BRAINPOWER

Boost Your Brainpower

Get a sharper mind with these 12 mind boosters

Of all things we gain with age—wealth, wisdom, children—a sharper mind isn’t one of them. Instead of being a steel trap like it used to be, it’s probably starting to resemble a colander. Life keeps pouring in, but you retain less and less of it.

But researchers are discovering that there are ways to forestall the decline. The secret? Stop taking your gray matter for granted, says P. Murali Doraiswamy, M.D., chief of biological psychiatry at Duke University’s medical school. “You can add 10 or more years to your brain’s useful life just by paying some attention to it,” he says. Here are 12 everyday tips to boost your brainpower—and then get more health, fitness, and beauty secrets in our new book, Age Erasers for Women!